The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant, botanically known as Geranium shikokianum.times.G. wallichianum, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Jolly Bee.
The new Geranium is a product of a planned and controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Warmond, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new interspecific Geraniums that are winter-hardy with large violet and light lavender flowers.
The new cultivar originated from a cross by the Inventor between an unnamed selection of Geranium shikokianum var. yoshiianum as the female, or seed, parent with the G. wallichianum cultivar Buxton's Variety as the male or pollen parent. The cultivar Jolly Bee was discovered and selected by the Inventor in 1998 as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Warmond, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by divisions taken at Warmond, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Warmond, The Netherlands, the following differences between the new Geranium and the female parent, an unnamed selection of G. shikokianum var. yoshiianum, have been observed:
1. Plants of the new Geranium are more vigorous than plants of the unnamed selection of G. shikokianum var. yoshiianum.
2. Plants of the new Geranium are larger than plants of the unnamed selection of G. shikokianum var. yoshiianum.
3. Plants of the new Geranium and plants of the unnamed selection of G. shikokianum var. yoshiianum differ in flower color.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Warmond, The Netherlands, the following differences between the new Geranium and the male parent, the G. wallichianum cultivar Buxton's Variety, have been observed:
1. Plants of the new Geranium are larger than plants of the cultivar Buxton's Variety.
2. Flowers of plants of the new Geranium are larger than flowers of plants of the cultivar Buxton's Variety.
3. Plants of the new Geranium are more winter-hardy than plants of the cultivar Buxton's Variety.